登陆注册
5386900000129

第129章 TO THE 21ST 0F JANUARY.(4)

One day, the 21st of September, the royal family had returned from their walk to their sitting-room. The king had taken a book and was reading; the queen was sitting near him, engaged in some light work; while the dauphin, with his sister Theresa, and his aunt Elizabeth, were in the next room, and were busying each other with riddles. In the open anteroom the two officials were sitting, their eyes fixed upon the prisoners with a kind of cruel pleasure.

Suddenly beneath their windows were heard the loud blast of trumpets and the rattle of drums; then followed deep silence, and amid this stillness the following proclamation was read with a loud voice:

"The monarchy is abolished in France. All official documents will be dated from the first year of the republic. The national seal will be encircled by the words, 'Republic of France.' The national coat-of-arms will be a woman sitting upon a bundle of weapons, and holding in her hand a lance tipped with a liberty-cap."

The two officials had fixed their eyes upon the king and queen, from whose heads the crown had just fallen. They wanted to read, with their crafty and malicious eyes, the impression which the proclamation had made upon them. But those proud, calm features disclosed nothing. Not for a moment did the king raise his eyes from the book which he was reading, while the voice without uttered each word with fearful distinctness. The queen quietly went on with her embroidery, and not for a moment did she intermit the regular motion of her needle.

Again the blast of trumpets and the rattle of drums. The funeral of the royalty was ended, and the king was, after this time, to be known simply as Louis Capet, and the queen as Marie Antoinette.

Within the Temple there was no longer a dauphin, no longer a Madame Royale, no longer a princess, but only the Capet family!

The republic had hurled the crowns from the heads of Louis and Marie Antoinette; and when, some days later, the linen which had been long begged for, had been brought from the Tuileries, the republic commanded the queen to obliterate the crown which marked each piece, in addition to the name.

But their sufferings are by no means ended yet. Still there are some sources of comfort left, and now and then a peaceful hour. The crowns have fallen, but hearts still beat side by side. They have no longer a kingdom, but they are together, they can speak with looks one to another, they can seek to comfort one another with smiles, they can cheer each other up with a passing grasp of the hand, that escapes the eye of the sentries! We only suffer half what we bear in common with others, and every thing seems lighter, when there is a second one to help lift the load.

Perhaps the enemies of the king and queen have an instinctive feeling of this, and their hate makes them sympathetic, in order to teach them to invent new tortures and new sufferings.

Yes, there are unknown pangs still to be felt; their cup of sorrows was not yet full! The parents are still left to each other, and their eyes are still allowed to rest upon their children! But the "one and indivisible republic" means to rend even these bonds which bind the royal family together, and to part those who have sworn that nothing shall separate them but death! The republic--which had abolished the churches, overthrown the altars, driven the priesthood into exile--the republic cannot grant to the Capet family that only death shall separate them, for it had even made Death its servant, and must accept daily victims from him, offered on the Place de Liberte, in the centre of which stood the guillotine, the only altar tolerated there.

In the middle of October the republic sent its emissaries to the Temple, to tear the king from the arms of his wife and his children.

In spite of their pleadings and cries, he was taken to another part of the Temple--to the great tower, which from this time was to serve as his lodgings. And in order that the queen might be spared no pang, the dauphin was compelled to go with his father and be separated from his mother.

This broke the pride, the royal pride of Marie Antoinette. She wrung her hands, she wept, she cried, she implored with such moving, melting tones, not to be separated from her son and husband, that even the heart of Simon the cobbler was touched.

"I really believe that these cursed women make me blubber!" cried he, angry with the tears which forced themselves into his eyes. And he made no objection when the other officials said to the queen, with trembling voices, that they would allow the royal family to come together at their meals.

One last comfort, one last ray of sunshine! There were still hours in these dismal, monotonous days of November, when they could have some happiness--hours for which they longed, and for whose sake they bore the desolate solitude of the remaining time.

At breakfast, dinner, and supper, the Capet family were together; words were interchanged, hands could rest in one another, and they could delight in the pleasant chatter of the dauphin when the king told about the lessons he had given the boy, and the progress he was making.

They sometimes forgot, at those meetings, that Death was perhaps crouching outside the Temple, waiting to receive his victims; and they even uttered little words of pleasantry, to awaken the bright, fresh laugh of the dauphin, the only music that ever was heard in those dismal rooms.

同类推荐
  • 圣经学规纂论学

    圣经学规纂论学

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 阿閦如来念诵供养法

    阿閦如来念诵供养法

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 还山遗稿

    还山遗稿

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 物理小识

    物理小识

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 道中有感

    道中有感

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 惯性

    惯性

    十多年前的事吧。因为快过年了,我回老家看母亲。母亲话不多,父亲去世以后,母亲就更少说话了,除了事务性的应答之外,母子之间没有交流的话题。我问一句,她答一句,不问就不开口。倒是和小叔之间有话说。好像是捂雪天,天黑得比平日似乎要早一些,疯狂吼叫了几天的老北风也停息了,感觉不太冷,我早早地吃过晚饭,端着茶杯,踱步来到小叔家。铁锈色、双扇对开的防盗门,非常夸张,几乎占了半面墙,还有些拒人千里的意思,与周围的环境很不协调。
  • 学长,我喜欢你

    学长,我喜欢你

    林羽瑶,是墨樱学院里一位善良而单纯的女孩。喜欢唱歌,乐于助人,她很平凡,平凡地只想拥有一份简单的爱情。但她喜欢上了一个学长,他是投资系的系草,她偏偏又被经济系的帅哥陈辰追求着,林羽瑶在错综复杂的人际关系和时常出其不意的社会关系中究竟作何选择。
  • 对不起,我已婚

    对不起,我已婚

    她初出茅庐,性子火爆,结婚前夕却遭遇男友背叛。他,成熟稳重,是不可多得的黄金单身汉。在遇到他之前,她从未想过会和只见过三次的男人谈婚论嫁。她嫁给他,却收拾好爱情,只想与他过井水不犯河水的婚姻生活,然而爱情总会在不经意中,慢慢降临。因为他一直张开相护的羽翼,她爱上了他,却忘了他的别有目的。当那个曾经的挚爱不期出现后,他的深情统统成了笑话,平地风浪中,这一次她再不会不战而败:我才是你唯一的妻子!
  • 用尽生命love

    用尽生命love

    他是花心人,她是痴情人。他烦她,她爱他。一场爱情角逐,最后,他明了自己的心,她等到了他的回首,却无福厮守!
  • 超级能源强国

    超级能源强国

    1987年的大学生,包分配,做公务员易如反掌。2012年的大学生,烂大街,毕业即失业。穿越成为1987年的北大生,苏城终于享受到了天之骄子的待遇。宝洁公司,松下电器之类的世界五百强,是绝对看不上的。
  • 有一种智慧叫低头

    有一种智慧叫低头

    生活是一门学问,但在某些形势之下,你是否会选择低头?忍耐是为了看清脚下的路,步步谨慎,能避免失之毫厘、差之千里,又能杜绝一失足成千古恨的惆怅。懂得选择与放弃的人,能够参透人生,把握一生,学会坚持与忍耐的人,能够搏击人生,成就一生。
  • 万世皇神

    万世皇神

    春秋战国,群雄割据。乱世英雄,秦皇一统,万古归一。长生之道,异世寻径,重辟霸业,永驻长春。大家一起领略秦皇的风采吧。
  • 三天成就好口才:让你八面玲珑的说话艺术

    三天成就好口才:让你八面玲珑的说话艺术

    生活中我们常能看到,一句话可以化干戈为玉帛;一句话也可以变亲友为仇人;一句话可以功败垂成;一句话更可以改变人生。拥有精彩人生的人也许不是演说家,但拥有好口才的人必定能成就精彩人生。本书从要说话和会说话两个大的方面来阐述不同的说话技巧对身处社会的人所具有的重大意义,旨在帮助读者学会说话,使读者在人际、事业和生活等诸多方面获得相关的启示,从而成就精彩的人生。
  • 快穿之男配别死

    快穿之男配别死

    文小雅是一个爱虐男配的甜文作者。当她再一次把男配写死时,一个神奇的世界向她展开。一个,阻止男配死亡的游戏就这么开始了。帅气阳光型校草×阴郁沉闷型学呆忧郁王子型歌星×精明干落型经纪人年少有为型将军×野蛮任性型公主……总有你喜欢的一款。
  • 天天营养百味:易学的家宴菜

    天天营养百味:易学的家宴菜

    逢年过节要准备一大桌菜时可让主妇们犯难了,那一桌子五花八门的菜式看似难学,但只要有方法,有指导,是能轻松拿下的。《易学的家宴菜》把握了家宴的特点,将繁琐的做法简化,但注重保留菜本身的特点,还注重将菜做得漂亮大气,让您能快速地学会做家宴菜。